I think that the idea of an "open-handed" grip position can be somewhat misleading, and that it actually applies differently to each individual finger and how many of them are being used. In order to back up this statement, I'd like to first loosely define the common notion of an "open-handed" grip position as one where the PIP joints of the fingers are maintained in as straight a position as possible. This could be viewed in opposition to the notion of ยcrimpingย, where the PIP joints remain noticeably flexed. Now considering the first case, when climbing on only one finger, it's possible to flex only the DIP joint while keeping the PIP joint relatively straight. However, when climbing on two adjacent fingers in the most "open-handed" manner possible, the longer finger must slightly flex its PIP joint in order to match the length of the shorter finger whose PIP joint is kept as straight as possible. Similarly, when climbing on three adjacent fingers in the most "open-handed" manner possible, the longest of the three fingers must flex its PIP joint substantially to match the length of the shortest of the three fingers, whose PIP joint is kept as straight as possible. Meanwhile, the second-longest finger must also flex its PIP joint to some degree (though less than the longest of the three fingers) for the same reason. Ultimately, when climbing with all four fingers in the most "open-handed" manner possible, the longest finger must flex its PIP joint the most, followed by the second-longest and third-longest fingers; all to match the length of the shortest finger, whose PIP joint is once again kept as straight as possible while still being allowed on the hold. It follows that every "open-handed" grip position (depending only on how many fingers are used) requires a varying level of PIP joint flexion (AKA ยcrimpingย) for each finger being used. Taking this observation into consideration, it seems logical that common pulley injuries (such as those in the second annular pulley) sustained from too much crimping would occur most in the longest finger, and progressively less in the second-longest, third-longest, and shortest fingers (which is verified by most climbers' experience with the issue). Interestingly enough, most rehabilitation protocols for common pulley injuries in climbers often vaguely claim that climbing "open-handed" can be done without pain or stress to the affected pulley. However, if we apply this to the most common case where the longest finger (usually the middle finger) is the one that's injured, we see that even climbing in the most "open-handed" manner possible will result either in roughly 45ยฐ PIP joint flexion in the middle finger with all four fingers being used, anywhere from 30ยฐ-45ยฐ PIP joint flexion with three fingers (depending on which three-finger team is used), anywhere from 10ยฐ-30ยฐ PIP joint flexion with two fingers (depending on which two-finger team with the middle is used), using the two-finger team with the pinky and ring fingers (uncomfortable and unlikely due to the usual length disparity between the two that causes roughly 45ยฐ PIP joint flexion in the ring finger), or using only one finger at any given time (obviously dangerous for sustained periods of time given the tremendous forces demanded in climbing). The only obvious exceptions to this observation are large, full-palm slopers with enough surface area to allow all four fingers to be as ยopenย as possible. That being said, I think the climbing community would be better off understanding that ยopen-handedย grip positions are fairly ambiguous in their definition, as they rely primarily on each finger and not the ยhandย as a whole. Any thoughts?
I agree on what you say that it might be better to define the position to the "open finger" position. However, this might be overkill as the community anyhow knows that the open hand position refers to open fingers :-) What you say in regards to injuries, I did not understand.
Yeah, sorry if the post is a bit over-worded at times. Regarding injuries, I basically mean to say that it's not really possible to climb on the middle finger under the accepted notion of "open-handed" without mono-ing, since any use of the middle finger in conjunction with any other finger(s) results in substantial crimping of the middle finger. I think this is important because the middle finger is the most common to get A2 pulley injuries because it is the longest finger, and yet this is usually the strategy most people refer to when talking about climbing with this sort of injury.
And I suppose I should add that I'm not saying that open-handing is a particularly bad thing. Quite to the contrary, I think that even though there is necessarily some crimping involved while open-handing, that it is obviously much less than half-crimping and full-crimping and is of course the better option if you must climb with a pulley injury. I simply don't want people with a middle-finger A2 injury to fool themselves into thinking that climbing under the vague guidelines of "open-handing" necessarily means it's not making their situation worse.
The only way you can climb "fully open" is if you climb on holds big enough to keep all pip joints on a hand more or less straight. I had such an injury where this spring, where my only option was to climb on jugs or slopers.. and of course the injury was in the middlefinger .. the longest.. :).
Yeah, exactly. Interestingly enough, I've also found that many jugs are painful for a different reason: quite often, the point where the hold comes into contact with your hand and causes the most pressure on the fingers is exactly where the A2 pulley lies in your middle finger. And the more positive the jug, the more force goes directly orthogonally onto that A2... ouch. It seems big, basketball-sized slopers are my only hope... maybe I should move to Alabama.
Regarding the notion of an "open-handed" grip position: